Fired up Rosburg says Broncos were playing to win, players deserve one
Jan 1, 2023, 2:58 PM
The Broncos fought hard against the Chiefs on Sunday.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as Denver fell 27-24 in Kansas City. It was the Broncos 15th straight loss to the Chiefs, a streak that would’ve felt unfathomable seven years ago.
But Denver showed some signs of life by battling throughout the game, and clearly playing way harder than they did during the Christmas debacle in Los Angeles. And a lot of the credit has to go to interim head coach Jerry Rosburg. The Broncos clearly had quit on Nathaniel Hackett, but not on Rosburg.
And trailing 27-24 in the final moments, Denver had a chance. The defense forced a punt and Russell Wilson and the offense took the field. They eventually were stopped on fourth-and-two near midfield, essentially ending the game. But Rosburg says they had no intentions of trying to play for the tie. His group wanted to drive the length of the field and steal a victory.
“We were going for it. We were trying to win, sir. Here’s the deal, we didn’t come here to try to look good and hold up. We came here to win,” Rosburg said. “Those players deserve to win, and we were going to be aggressive that whole last series. Those were goes. We were going for a win, (not) for a tie, kick a field goal (and) go to overtime. We needed to win a game, so that’s what we were thinking.”
Unfortunately, the Denver offensive line fell apart on the final offensive play, and Russell Wilson had no time at all. He tried a desperation flip to Latavius Murray, but it was to no avail. The Chiefs got the ball back, Patrick Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for one first-down, and that was the game.
Still, Rosburg is proud of how his players fought. He offered them an endorsement, while also hinting he’d really like to get a victory as interim head coach.
“We have a lot of talent in that room. These players have been getting ripped. I see a bunch of talented players that need to come together,” Rosburg said. “We made some progress, but it wasn’t nearly good enough. These players deserve and need to win a football game to close this thing out. We’re planting seeds here. We want this thing to grow.”
And grow the Broncos will try to do in Week 18 against the Chargers. At 4-12, the game obviously means nothing in the standings, but it’d be a nice way to end a horrible year. These players clearly respect Rosburg, so fans should hopefully expect another good effort next week.
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